This invention relates to improvements in methods and systems for searching to find particular segments along the length of a tape and to improvements in apparatus for accomplishing that purpose.
Whenever the information that is recorded on an audio tape or a video tape is such that part of that information is useful independently of the information on other parts of the tape, it is desirable to be able to locate the desired information without beginning at one end of the tape and proceeding to examine all of the data. The process of attempting to locate that portion of the tape on which the desired information is stored is called "searching". This invention relates to improvements in systems and apparatus for doing that kind of searching.
Tape offers a convenient and inexpensive way to store large amounts of information in a relatively small space. But that advantage is lost in large degree unless reasonable access may be had to the information stored on the tape. Providing access to taped information can be divided into two tasks. One is the task of transporting the tape. That task involves driving the tape in forward or reverse direction past the recording and reading apparatus called "heads". The other task involves recognition of the desired information. The recognition problem may be solved either by recognizing stored data or by knowing at what distance along the tape the desired data occurs and then measuring distance. Both of these approaches have been employed in the past. The "recognition of data" approach is used extensively in data retrieval apparatus of the kind that is peripheral to computers, and in which tape is transported from reel to reel. Information identification data is recorded on the tape at a point adjacent to the information to be stored. That location information is recorded in a fashion that permits reading location during very high speed movement of the tape. Systems of that kind are specially designed and tend to be very elaborate both im the mechanisms they employ and the systems by which they are controlled. An object of the invention is to provide a less costly and much more universally applicable apparatus and system.
The other approach, i.e., measurement of distance along the tape, has been provided only in rudimentary form. It is common for tape recorders and players to include a mechanical turn counter with a reset arrangement so that the counter can be set to zero at any time. Those counting systems have been very rudimentary in that they include no way to correlate the setting of the counter with the position on the tape except by the most elementary manual means. While adequate for some purposes, these mechanical counting arrangements are not satisfactory where cut-and-try searching is not permitted or is not adequate.
The invention provides an intermediate solution. It provides automatic searching by measurement of distance along the tape whereby to avoid the complexity that has attended the attempts to search by recognition of data, while providing freedom from fumbling and an ease of operation far beyond what has been possible in the mechanical counting systems.
It is an object of the invention to make possible a system and search apparatus which will provide the accuracy that heretofore has been available only in the sophisticated, specialized data recognition systems, and to do that less expensively and in a manner that makes it possible to add search capability to existing general purpose tape players and recorders.
Doing that, adding search capability to existing general purpose tape players and video display systems, is one of the principle objects of the invention. A number of manufacturers provide very fine tape transporting and tape reading apparatus in both the reel-to-reel and the cassette styles. Standardization of the reels and of the cassettes and of the speeds at which they operate has resulted in a substantial degree of similarity and commonality in the structures that are produced by different manufacturers. The invention makes it possible to add search capability to these pre-existing and readily available machines without any need to redesign or to modify them. Thus, the invention makes it possible to provide new products and new systems which utilize, without change, all of the development effort that was devoted to creating and producing the building blocks of this new system.
The embodiment selected for illustration in the accompanying drawings was selected in part because it illustrates how the invention makes it possible to provide a very sophisticated, specialized audio-visual display system at minimum cost. The unit shown in FIG. 1 of the drawing is used in making sales presentations to prospective purchasers of automobiles. Sales information in the form of animated demonstrations of automobile styling, performance, quality, and the like, are recorded along with spoken sales explanations on an audio-video tape package in cassette form. That cassette has been placed in a video tape player which forms part of the console of FIG. 1. The tape is "played" by reading it and displaying the video information on the television screen and by projecting the sound record from speakers that are housed in the console. The sales person can secure access to any portion of the tape by using the keyboard that is visible just above the tape player. A prospective purchaser's questions can be answered by playing a pre-recorded sequence from the tape. The sales person has access to that sequence simply by punching a few buttons. The prospect can view a colored vidio picture relating to the points in which he has some interest. This powerful sales tool employs a standard video monitor, a standard speaker system, and a standard video cassette tape player. Even the cabinet is standard. The keyboard unit is provided by the invention. Beyond that, only the tape recording is special.
It will be apparent that the system has a wide variety of applications. It can also be used as a teaching tool, as an information library system for business and medical records, and in a host of other applications.